News 09/28/2017 News

Lakeport’s working to become more green. The city’s reportedly working with a company for conservation ideas like solar panels, using more LED lighting instead of florescent and other energy-saving items. There are four main buildings in the city they want to do the work in, City Hall, the Police Department, Carnegie Library and the Corporation Yard. The city’s also considering work at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, City Water Wells and for the streetlights on Park Street. The company OpTerra would potentially work with the city on the nearly 4 million dollar project that would be paid for with a 30 year installment plan. Then the city could save about half of what its currently paying for electricity. The same company’s apparently worked with or is currently working with 20 other cities for similar projects.

Lakeport’s park committee needs some volunteers. There’s some projects happening at the Westside Community Park that need some muscle. One is to put several dozen commemorative bricks into the ground at the Memorial Grove. The bricks for purchase for local residents to memorialize someone. There are also trees that have already been placed to also commemorate someone. They need help putting a sign up to mark the Memorial Grove. They have some contractors donating time, but they still need more help. A priority is the paving of the Jane Barnes Field’s parking lot, putting in a curb, gutter, and sidewalk too. They’re trying to grant funding for all of this.

Three new/old members of the Mendocino County Board of Retirement in office again, as the trio ran unopposed. Current Vice Chairwoman Kathryn Cavness, board secretary Tim Knudsen and alternate member Richard Shoemaker are all in their positions until November of 2020. The retirement board administrator says they’re very happy with all three continuing. The administrator noting some of the work facilitated by the trio like getting a favorable determination from the IRS and getting work done on a strategic plan so they can maintain 100 percent success delivering retirement benefits on time and getting up to 100 percent funding by 2040.

Quick work of a fire by the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority. A grass fire near the airport yesterday after a man in an RV on Norgard Lane running a generator set off the fire in tall, dry grass. The fire chief says the guy was there when they got there and was very apologetic, but police on scene said they had seen the man there before and asked him to leave. The fire burned less than one acre. The chief saying it’s an important reminder that it’s still fire season with dry vegetation that can easily be set on fire.

After a year of negotiating and some walking off the job, court interpreters get a new contract with salary increases. The agreement for Northern Calif. translators after Mendocino County’s only translator, Tim Baird protested with other union members. The contract has a big salary bump of 21 percent over three years, but the starting rate stays the same. Depending on how long a translator has worked, determines their raise. The contract also stipulates that the interpreters can negotiate wage increases again about halfway into the current contract term, in 2019. The union says the deal is an important step even though it ignored an increase in pay due to increased pension costs.

The owner of the doomed Ghost Ship, the Oakland warehouse that caught fire killing 36 people, will not be charged. And Chor Ng is getting more than $3 million in insurance money. Apparently 3 point one million dollars to Ng for the warehouse and other nearby properties after the loss from the fire. She’s also apparently already received more than a half million to cover lawyer fees and incidentals. The claims after the fire cover several properties Ng owns in the area. The insurance document revealed by a Bay Area news agency says the insurer estimates it will have to pay the landlord more than 2 million in property damage. She has to pay for security though at the now burned down warehouse to preserve potential evidence in the case. The two men who rented from her are being charged with involuntary manslaughter for the fire last year during a party.

A long meeting of the Lakeport Planning Commission as they consider proposed cannabis regulations in city limits. Lake Co News reports the meeting went almost 3.5 hours to review a set of rules that a working group came up with. The city’s getting regulations in place before the end of the year to align with the state in relation to Proposition 64 and a recently passed package of bills by the legislature. There’s already a personal use ordinance in Lakeport, so there will be revisions to that. And as far as commercial goes, the staff’s been working on zoning classifications for commercial, industrial and heavy commercial. The working group wants to ban outdoor grows, nursery growing only indoors, limiting where it can be grown altogether and they’ve tweaked the permitting process for it all. The police department will have to review any new business and there will be no storefronts allowed.

A healthy month for real estate in Lake County. Lake Co News reports the Lake County Association of Realtors reported stronger sales in August with almost 100 homes sold, up more than 28 percent from the July total. 95 homes were sold in August, down from 100 last August. The median price was off 5.35 percent from July at $239,00 compared to $252,500 the month before. The news site reports statewide sales in August were at more than 425,000 homes sold, up 1.5 percent from July and 1.3 percent from August of 2016.

California will no longer be an afterthought in presidential primaries. The legislature has voted to move the primary election date from June to March. The governor signed the bill into law yesterday. So presidential and state primaries will change from June to early March in 2019. So the next presidential primary is now March 3, 2020. It will come right after the first four states Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. The move after California’s last presidential primary came at the end when the two candidates were already their parties, presumptive nominees. Back in 2008 Calif. moved the primary to February 5th. But there was nearly 2 dozen other states that did the same. Supporters of the new law say it will boost turnout, but those against say it means long general election campaigns. Another bill the governor’s considering is to require presidential candidates to release their tax returns so they can be on California’s ballot. Brown has until Oct. 15 to sign or veto that bill.